Me: "J, this is the third time this week! Don't you think you are enjoying this high thing a little too much!"
J: "But it makes me feel crappy mom, and it is SOOOO fun feeling crappy!"
Real conversation that took place in Costco this summer. Were people listening in? You bet your blood ketone monitor they were! And that is ok. We gotta have fun with diabetes sometimes or we'll CRACK! Like split in half...
I'm serious.
If I didn't laugh about diabetes, I'd probably be committed to a padded cell.
There is so much REALITY with this disease, sometimes we need to take it to another place just to find our footing. Come on, we all know the consequences of high blood sugars. We all know what it is doing to our children's bodies. If we looked at that literally every time a high screamed back at us at a meter...well, we would be messes.
Wait, we are messes. All our swelly brains are messes whether we'd like to admit it or not.
Let's just say, we would be committed messes.
And the boys need some breathing room too. They need to see that random highs aren't the end of the world. A lot of sustained highs...well that is something to be taken a bit more seriously. But if it is out of left field, what are you gonna do?
Cry?
Well...ok...sometimes I cry...everyonecrysokay???
But most of the time I blow it off. We try to figure out what the culprit was to fix it for next time, but other than that we follow through with the motto 'keep calm and carry on!'
And our other motto, "You get what you get and you don't throw a fit." That comes into play too. My boys have diabetes, and diabetes means we can't keep blood sugars perfect every minute of every day.
So we laugh. And we are sarcastic. And we probably gave a couple people in Costco something to talk about around the dinner table. So what?
Milton Berle once said, "Laughter is like an instant vacation."
Who among us couldn't use a break from reality? I don't know about you, but I'm going to make an effort to laugh more. The farther I get away from the padded cell waiting for me, the better!
This is my submission for this month's DSMA Blog Carnival! It is fun to play along...go ahead and fill in the blanks yourself! "If I didn't laugh about_____then I would_____."
Love it :)
ReplyDeleteI wish I could've seen those folks faces!
wanna hear a funny d story? Alright, I'm going to tell you...
ReplyDeleteLately the boys have been pretending to be spies, sneaking around, gathering information, dressing up with dark sunglasses the whole bit.
Tonight they decided spies sneak snacks, then Ethan came out and said, "we snuck boxes of raisins, but I thought you needed to know." I agreed.
Later, I asked Isaac if we could come up with a secret spy code for when he needs insulin after a secret spy snack, I said, "how about you say hey ma, Mr. Pump just wanted to know if you could dose him for a box of raisins."
He replied, "no that isn't spy enough, how about Mr. Pump needs to insulin for his dried grapes, that's more spyish."
Alright! I worry about being a helicopter mom with d and here he is providing all the humor letting me know to not worry so much :) Love these kiddos!
Love saying "Joe you cannot play until you eat two Starbursts!" OR "Joe is Dexter in your pants?" or "Joe are you high"...Or "Joe get Woodchuck"... Or "Joe give me a finger!" (I am always afraid of the day he may flip me off when I ask him that one).
ReplyDeleteGreat entry Meri. I am hoping to get mine done soon. xo
Hehehe! If I heard that conversation I'd probably run and give the mom and son a hug - and probably be reported to the cops for attacking them.
ReplyDeleteLove it! Ryan laughs about diabetes a lot. Sometimes I struggle to get there with him. And others . . . it becomes a ridiculous laughing mess. Thank you for this post! ((HUGS))
ReplyDeleteHee hee hee. I agree, laughter babe, the only way we are gonna all get through this alive!
ReplyDeleteOr how about asking your teenage son if he has his needles with him as he gets out of the car...
ReplyDelete"because you are high today...you might need your needles"
You are so right on! I'll never forget learning from you that a number isn't good or bad. It just tells you what to do next. Life changing for me!
ReplyDeleteLove this Meri! So true! I love having conversations like that out in public just to see the looks on others faces...I mean they must really think I'm crazy asking my 8 year old daughter if she's high, lol! And it's especially funny now too since Charlotte has figured out why it's funny to me :)
ReplyDeleteMeri, I just love your posts, you are such a fantastic writer and you always make me laugh or cry. I think you are an amazingly strong person! I guess we all have to be as moms of kids with this crazy (wonderful) life!!
ReplyDeleteThe other night we were worried that Roxy's Pod was falling off. Right after we put her to bed we checked the CGM which said she was an 80. We knew it would come up with the dinner she was still digesting, but to make light of our Pod fears, my husband said, "If she spikes up to an 83 I'm ripping that thing off!" Happily she spent the whole night around a 140. Now, last night on the other hand was a different story...
ReplyDeletei so agree, laughter and dark comedy is a key element in our family's D management. :)
ReplyDelete